Happy Birthday, Jaeger
by WATERMELON-S33DS
Summary: a decently old (and short) jeaneren fic i found on my da, figured i'd post it here since i still like it quite a bit!


Birthdays usually weren't a huge thing, at least not when your entire family was dead or unable to see you due to your duties in the military. But there was just something, nobody knew what, but it was something that just made life a whole lot sweeter. In this case, Eren's life was being sweetened by this day.

It didn't matter who's birthday it was, the birthday boy/girl would always get a sort of 'special treatment'. There weren't any rules saying it had to happen, it just sort of...did...

If it was your special day everyone would always treat you nicer, whether it was officers or generals or commanders letting you slack off by doing less work in training or just sitting out entirely, or it was fellow trainees letting you cut in line during meal time. Sometimes people that you don't normally talk to would send smiles your way or even say hello! Close friends usually had a different approach. A few people that Eren was pretty friendly with had come up to him, offering him hugs and even a few girls had given him light kisses on the cheek, including Armin and Mikasa. He had even walked by Bertholdt and Reiner on his way to the mess hall and had received a pat on the back from the taller male and a heavy slap on the butt from a laughing blonde.

Of course, people didn't usually keep track of who's birthday it was, but after a few years everybody would learn and figure it out. Nobody really looked forward to peoples' birthdays either.

Except Eren's.

Eren's birthday was like an event for everybody to enjoy, nobody cared very much in the morning and afternoon, but once night hit and everyone was getting tucked into their bunks in the barracks, oh that's when the magic happened. Everyone would always rush to get to bed and to fake sleeping, since it wouldn't go down unless Eren was the only one 'awake', Armin was the exception.

When everything was silent and everybody was sound asleep Mikasa would make her way over to the boys' barracks, sneak her way in and find her way to Eren's bunk, where he'd be lying wide awake with Armin usually by his side, sitting on the covers. She'd sit at the head of the bed and cradle Eren's head in her lap and begin singing sweet songs to him. Songs about strong soldiers returning home after long battles, about the never ending oceans and skies outside of the walls. She even sang a few children's lullabies, ones about bunnies and kitties and even horses. He'd never admit it, but those were Eren's favourites. As Mikasa sang she'd run her fingers through Eren's hair to calm him down, eventually Armin would join in, usually resting his head on Mikasa's shoulder, and the three of them would sit quietly for about 30 minutes to an hour, listening to Mikasa singing. In fact everyone did, all pretending to sleep and some even being knocked out by Mikasa's melodies. Those who were still awake would dive out of their bunks and crowd around a sleepy Eren and his blonde haired story-teller when she left. After a few years they discovered the best way to sort people in the small gathering, people were assigned to certain bunks to sit in, some on the floor and some onto Eren's bed or the surrounding bunks. Everyone had a special place to sit and nobody sat anywhere except their own place. They'd all be as silent as the dead as they all listened carefully to the tales that Armin had to share, whether they were made up or from the books he had borrowed from his grandfather. He'd usually start with shorter stories meant for children, much like Mikasa's songs, then he'd get into long legends about heroes from all over the world. Anything from Pirates to Gladiators, Armin knew them all and knew how to make them as exciting as possible.

This happened every year, everything would be the same except for Mikasa and Armin's gifts to Eren which would be fresh and new everytime the event rolled around to share them. But this year...things seemed...different... and Eren knew exactly why. It was Jean, the horse-faced teen seemed to be acting differently then usual. During the day he had actually looked at Eren with less hatred than usual, he'd let the boy cut in line with out any complaints. He even let Eren go right in front of him, which was very unusual. That wasn't even the weirdest part of it all.

Later that night, Eren had kept his eyes wide open and roaming about the room during Mikasa's lullabies, at least until he met Jean's eyes. Their gazes locked and almost seemed...soft? Yeah, soft. At least softer than usual. Eren brushed it off as Jean just being too drowsy to start a fight. The thing that got Eren the most was when it came time for Armin's stories. Everyone except for Bert, Reiner and Jean had gone to their usual places. Usually Bert would sit on the bed with Eren cradled in his lap and Reiner leaning on his shoulder, but this time Jean was the one underneath him and Bertholdt and Reiner had decided to stand in Jean's place, leaning on the bunk next to his or sitting on the floor in that same spot. Eren tried arguing with the bigger boy about it, but was only greeted with strong arms wrapping tightly, and firmly around his waist. He grunted as he felt Jean settle and received a simple "Can it, Jaeger" in response. Eren just let it go and listened to Armin's stories. Only disrupting the silence to elbow Jean in the side when he drooled on Eren's head, not only was it gross but it was incredibly rude to fall asleep when somebody went to all the trouble to tell such amazing stories. The smaller male also didn't feel like being stuck spooning with Jean the entire night, he knew that Jean had a habit of hugging things in his sleep and holding on with a death grip and he really didn't want to be his next victim, it's already bad enough that they had to move Marco to the other side of the cabin because of it.

Midnight eventually rolled around and everyone was tucked back into bed, except Eren. His bladder had woken him up, screaming to be emptied. Quickly sprinting in the dark to the washrooms gave a certain somebody enough time to leave a special gift under his pillow back in the barracks. Unfortunately Eren hadn't thought of checking under the puffy padding before throwing his skull into it, only to be greeted by and even greater discomfort than usual. He grumbled and slipped a rough, scarred hand underneath the pillow and he pulled out...a box? Yeah, it was definitely a box. A very rough one in fact, he had to stop himself from yelping when he slid his fingers over the edge and received about 20 splinters in his finger from it. Eren shook the box slightly, it sounded like something smooth, like a rock, but light, like a peice of wood, hitting the inside edge of the rectangle. He grumbled and opened the container trying very hard not to injure himself once again. It was dark so he couldn't see very well, but he was able to trace his finger over the smooth ojbect until his eyes adjusted to the dark.

A horse?

A horse.

Whoever had left the item had obviously spent a lot of time working on this. It was smooth with a few rougher spots that showed that the creator wasn't skilled to perfection, but still rather talented in the art of carving. Eren tried to remember if he had seen anybody doing any carving recently, before he could place a name and a face he turned his attention to the painting on the small ornament. It was a lovely saddle, different combinations of green and red and gold woven together to create it. A warm feeling began to rise in Eren's face and stomach and a giggle found it's way out of his throat. He managed to shut himself up in time to hear someone sighing quietly from their bunk, he didn't know who, but he knew he heard it. Eren shrugged it off and continued examinging his new toy horse, well it wasn't exactly a toy, but it was cute enough to be one. Eventually drowsiness had caught up with him and he found himself falling asleep with the animal on his pillow next to him, lying neatly underneath his warm and protective hand. Jean simply smiled and turned to head back to his own bunk after climbing down to check on the older boy. Before he could make it 3 steps, he quickly turned around and planted a quick kiss onto the side of Eren's head and whispered a few sweet words into Eren's ear before retreating to the safety of his own blankets.

"Sleep well, asshole."

Those words, Jean's first words of the day, began circling around Eren's head all night.


End file.
